Yin and Yang
by SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Reisa and Mara, also known as Faith and Grace, and twins, separated when they were too young to remember. Reisa can raise anyone from the dead, and Mara can kill people with her mind. They are meant to balance each other out, but they don't meet again until they are already teenagers who have been through much. They are opposites in everything, but they share one goal: revenge.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

A little girl was sitting at her kitchen table. She looked over at her mother. "Mommy…"

The woman scooped up the girl. "What is it, baby?"

She laughed. "Nothing, I just like getting picked up."

They both laughed, and the woman swung her daughter around a little bit. There was a knock at the door, and the woman balanced the girl on her hip so that one of her hands would be free. She opened the door, and saw one of her neighbors. "Hey Paul, what's up?"

The man glanced at the little girl. "Um, hey Rebecca, I need to talk to you. But it's grown-up stuff that Reisa doesn't need to hear."

The girl squirmed out of her mother's house and ran into the house. She had learned a while ago that she wasn't supposed to hear grown up talk. Rebecca frowned at the serious tone in his voice. "What's wrong?"

He beckoned for her to follow him outside. They stepped out onto the sidewalk, and Rebecca almost immediately noticed the small furry lump on the road. Paul sighed apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Rebecca. She just darted out in front of my car…"

The woman hurried over, and could tell by the color that it was her cat. She gasped. "Oh, god." She turned away, and saw that Reisa was running over.

"Mommy what's wrong?"

Rebecca tried to intercept the little girl, but Reisa avoided her, and knelt next to the dead cat on the street. She stared at the poor animal, and Rebecca ran over to pick up her daughter and carry her back inside. She gasped at the soft meow that she heard, and glanced down. The cat was getting up, looking perfectly unbothered by the whole situation.

The woman looked into her daughter's cool blue eyes. "Sweetheart?"

Reisa laughed. "Mommy, Milky Way was asleep but now she's awake again! Isn't that great?" She beamed proudly.

Rebecca coughed. "Did you do that?"

Reisa nodded. "Yup. I just imagined that she would wake up and I already knew it would work because one time I found a sleeping bu'erfly, and I hoped he would wake up, and he did. I'm real good at waking things up."

Rebecca grabbed Reisa and pulled her inside, ignoring the strange looks that she was getting from Paul. She picked up the girl and let her sit on the counter, which was something she never allowed. She grabbed the phone book that was on a little shelf underneath the phone, and began flipping through.

Reisa yawned. "Watch'ya looking for?"

Rebecca glanced at the sleepy child. "Your father… I've explained to you before where he is, right?"

The girl nodded. "You said that he's at a place for people who are special."

Rebecca nodded, relieved that she wouldn't have to explain that part again. "Yes. And I think that it's time for you to go there too. You'll get to be with your daddy, and you'll learn how to control your ability to… wake things up."

Reisa scrunched up her face. "You don't want me anymore?"

Rebecca pulled her daughter into a hug. "Oh, baby, of course that's not true. You know how much I love you. But in these times… it's not safe for your to stay here. There are many people who don't like those that are special, and they could try to hurt you. I just want what's best for you."

Reisa nodded, but her carefree grin was gone. She began nervously twirling her short dark black hair around one finger while her mother went back to searching the phone book. A couple of calls, and a few hours later, there was a knock at the door. Rebecca glanced at her daughter. "Stay here."

She opened the door, and saw a man in a wheelchair on her front steps, a man on either side of him. He smiled softly. "Rebecca. Now that's a name I never thought I would hear again."

Rebecca interrupted him before he could continue. "Don't bother asking why I called you here so urgently, you obviously already know. She's this way."

She lead the trio through her house, to the kitchen. The chair-bound man smiled at the little girl. "Hello, Reisa."

Her eyes widened, and she glanced curiously at the man. "How did you know my name?"

He grinned, and his next words could only be heard in her mind. "_Because I'm like you."_ Reisa gasped. "How would you like to come stay at my school? There will be many children just like you."

Reisa glanced at her mother, but decided that she was a big girl and could make the decision on her own. "Yeah, okay. I'll go. Just let me pack…"

Rebecca handed the girl a suitcase. "Here's your things. There's no time for you to stick around."

One of the standing men scooped up the girl, and the other picked up the suitcase. Rebecca looked at the third man desperately. "Charles… I need to know that she'll be safe."

He smiled gently. "I promise to do everything in my power to keep her safe, you know that. But the same rules apply as they did before, with your husband. You cannot attempt to contact the school or your daughter if you don't want to risk putting everyone there in great danger."

Rebecca sniffled. "I promise." She leaned forward and kissed Reisa's forehead. "I love you baby."

Reisa raised one eyebrow. "You're not coming?"

Rebecca shook her head. "I can't. I'm so so sorry, but I can't. I'll think of you everyday, though, I promise."

Reisa shrugged. "See you later, mommy."

Rebecca gasped, and sank down into a chair. The three men showed themselves out, taking her daughter with them. She put her head in her hands and cried. She had now lost her whole family.

The FBI agent carried the little girl outside, out of that den of filth and vices. There was a social worker waiting outside, she had been called to come in as soon as the agents had discovered that there was a child involved in this case. The agent quickly handed off the child. "Ms Briggs, this is the kid."

The woman gulped. The girl had long blond hair, torn clothing, and was covered in dirt. But the strangest part was her eyes. They were cherry red. "H… hello sweetie. What's your name?"

The girl smiled, and it was an adorable smile. "Death."

Ms Briggs gulped again. The kid had to be a mutant, there was no other explanation for the red eyes. She looked up at the agent. "It'll be difficult to track down her real family, if she even has one, if she doesn't know her name."

The girl raised one eyebrow. "I do have a name, it's Death."

She reached up to pat Ms Brigg's hair, since it looked like it would be very soft. There was a jingling noise, and the social worker saw that bracelet on the little girl's wrist. She gently reached for it, and held up the charm. It was a simple little silver circle with 'Mara' engraved on it. She smiled. "Is your name Mara?"

Mara shrugged. "If you like that better, than I suppose I can learn to get used to it."

The woman chuckled. "Well, thank you for your cooperation little lady." She glanced up at the agent. "Do you know how old she is?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not. We didn't even know that there was a child involved until twelve hours ago when we received an anonymous phone call from a concerned neighbor. But it doesn't really matter what happens." At Ms Brigg's blank look, he elaborated. "She's one of the… you know… freaks."

Ms Briggs bristled at that. Her sister slash close friend had been a mutant, with the ability to speak with animals. It was messed up that in this day and age there were still people with such barbaric discriminatory beliefs, and it sickened her. She held the child a little closer. It was a lot tougher when the mutations were visible. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise. My name is Karen. I'm going to make sure that you get somewhere safe, okay?"

Mara nodded with a content look on her face. "Okay. Thank you, Karen." Ms Briggs got into her car, and drove down to the center. She talked to a lot of people, and the odds weren't good. Many people wouldn't even keep their own children if they were mutants, let alone somebody else's. Karen stared up at her boss. "I have fostered many children before in my life. So can't I just as easily adopt one?"

The boss sighed. "You know that it's more complicated than that. What if her biological parents show up? What then?"

Karen crossed her arms. "If they do show up, then we'll work something out. But something needs to be done now. You know that the chances of anyone taking in a kid with such a visible mutation are very slim, and I'm willing to take her in, and all the responsibility that goes with her. Please."

He shook his head. "Isn't this the type of thing you should discuss with your husband before making any decisions?"

Karen shrugged. "We've discussed the matter of children plenty of times, and we've both already agreed that an adoption would be best. And now I've found a sweet little girl who needs a home, and no matter how cute she may be, she has almost a zero percent chance of getting one with anybody else."

He sighed, but finally relented. "Fine. You can take her home with you know, and I'll fax you all the paperwork that needs to be filled out in the morning."

Karen grinned. "Oh, come on. Why fax them to me when you can just give them to me in person?"

Her husband slash boss, James, laughed. "Fine. I'll give them to you in person. You know, even though you're a complete pain in the ass sometimes, I'm glad that the world has someone like you in it."

Karen pulled him into a hug. "I'll go tell Mara the good news."

James rolled his eyes. "Is it too late to say that I've changed my mind." Karen laughed. She stood on the tips of her toes to give James a quick peck on the lips, then hurried away. She got back to the large room where Mara was waiting, and knelt next to the girl. "Sweetie? How would you feel about coming to stay with me?"

Mara tilted her head in contemplation, then nodded. "That seems like a nice plan. Are you sure that you want someone like me around you, though?"

Karen nodded. "Of course. I hardly know you, but I have a feeling that we're going to get along famously. And I can't wait for you to meet my husband. He's excited too."

Mara laughed. "If he's as nice as you, then this will all turn out okay."

Karen smiled. "Well, I certainly hope that will be the case."

The little girl grinned. "So do I."


	2. Chapter 2

Eleven Years Later

Reisa was laying prostrate on her bed, earbuds in her ears, with her depressing music blasting. She didn't hear anyone calling for her until the voice was in her head. "_Reisa… what are you doing? You've missed all of your classes today, and now you're ignoring me."_

The girl sat up, and pulled the wires out of her ears. She wrapped the earbuds around her iPod and shoved the device into her pocket. She got up, and as she went to leave, she caught sight of the mirror by the door. She didn't expect to see anything there. She had never had a reflection in her entire life.

She only knew what she looked like based on the descriptions that others told her. She had short black hair, straight and smooth, cool blue eyes, pale skin, and an overall grumpy demeanor. Her entire aura warned people to stay away from her.

Reisa left her room, and made sure to lock the door behind her. Locks weren't much help in the mansion, but it made her feel slightly more secure. After all, her bedroom was her private safe haven, where no one else was allowed. No one even tried to enter without permission, because they were all scared of the girl. Which was funny, since her mutation could only ever be used for good.

She went downstairs slowly, letting her heavy shoes make a loud thump on each step. Once she was on the first floor, she took her time getting to Charles's office. She entered without knocking, since he was obviously already expecting her. He smiled up at her. "Reisa. Are you here to explain why you haven't shown up to any of your classes all week?"

Reisa shrugged. There was nothing much to say. She simply didn't care for learning. And she was still remembering her argument with Charles that had taken place several nights ago at this point. She wanted to go out in the world and do good, use her mutation and help people who desperately needed the help. But Charles was content to keep all the children locked up like prisoners, away from the rest of humanity.

Reisa had lived in the mansion, Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, for as long as she could remember. This place was all she'd ever known, and these people were her only family. And that wasn't enough. She needed to get out there, and change the world. "I didn't feel like going."

Charles frowned. "I don't see how I can be expected to trust you on important missions if I can't even trust you to go to your classes."

Reisa's eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean by 'important missions'?"

Charles raised one eyebrow. "Well… I was going to ask you to go out with Logan on a retrieval today, only to discover that you haven't even left your room."

The girl looked down at him pleadingly. "Please, Charles, let me go with him. I promise, I'll attend all my classes, but please…"

The telepath hesitated, then nodded. He must have read her mind and seen that she was being sincere. "Alright. Logan's already in the garage, so you'd better hurry if you want to make it before he takes off on his own."

Reisa nodded gratefully, and hurried away. She ran to the garage, and threw herself into the passenger side of Logan's car. He gave her a grouchy glance. "Took you long enough. I could've already been there and back if I wasn't waiting on you."

Reisa punched him in the arm. "Just drive."

They drove for a bit, and Reisa made sure to take in everything that they passed by. She didn't get very many chances to leave the mansion, so to her this was all so incredible. She glanced at Logan after about half an hour of driving. "Where are we going?"

Logan laughed. "It doesn't occur to you to ask where we're going until we're almost there? I can fully understand why you're not old enough for solo missions yet. We're heading to Manhattan."

Reisa pouted (though it was difficult to distinguish that from her normal look). "You don't need me for some simple retrieval."

Logan laughed. "According to the professor, this is a little kid we're talking about. As scary as you might look, you'd still most likely be better received than me."

Reisa slouched down in her seat, though she made sure she could still easily see out the window. "I suppose that's true."

Another few minutes passed, and Reisa could see the outlines of the giant skyscrapers. About ten minutes after that, they entered the city. They drove another few minutes, and Logan parked the car outside some skeevy bar. She gave him an accusing look. "What are we doing here?"

He chuckled. "Relax, we're not here to drink the night away. The professor said that this is where we'll find the kid."

They went inside, and it was as trashy in there as it looked from the outside. Logan was nothing out of the ordinary in a place like this, but Reisa was getting all kinds of funny looks that she didn't appreciate. The two mutants walked through the bar, and into the little hallway leading to the restrooms. At the end was a door, and when Logan opened it, there was a set of stairs.

He pushed Reisa behind him and took the lead, getting to another door at the top. He knocked politely. "Who is it?" It was a young man's voice.

Logan cleared his throat. "The professor sent us." There was the sound of several locks being unclicked, and then the door swung open. There was a young man in a crumpled suit, and he stepped back to allow the visitors inside. "So? Where is the kid?"

The man smiled apologetically. "I'll go get him. He's napping right now."

Logan darted forward, and pinned the man to the wall with his claws. His voice was a growl. "Who are you?"

The man frowned. "What gave me away?"

"We were sent to pick up a little girl, not a little boy. So who are you?"

The man managed to whip out a gun. "None of your business." Logan didn't move, since it's not like a bullet would kill him anyways, but he wasn't the man's target. Reisa realized that the gun was fired in her direction, and from where she was standing, there was really no where to go. So she threw herself at the window, and the cheap glass shattered into millions of pieces.

She fell to the ground, and rolled forward so she wouldn't break any bones. Reisa gasped as she heard footsteps coming towards her, and she began running in the opposite direction. But she didn't have anywhere to go in the small alley. She turned to face the mouth of the alley, and saw three men in suits, with their guns drawn. She hoped that Logan would arrive in time.

Reisa opened her mouth to scream for help, but was cut off by the sound of a bullet flying right past her ear. She jumped behind a big dumpster, and hoped that it would protect her until Logan could come to the rescue and beat those guys up. There was the sound of fighting, and she knew it had to be Logan.

She peered cautiously around the dumpster, and saw that Logan was fighting off two of the men at once. But the third one was occupied with someone else. A small figure, blonde hair flashing in the sunlight. Logan slammed his foes against each other, and they both fell unconscious.

The other attacker wasn't so lucky. The blonde leaped up behind him, and ran one hand across his neck. There was a glint of something shiny, and then blood was gushing from the slit in his throat. He coughed once, then fell to the ground, his chest no longer rising and falling. Reisa couldn't help the screech of protest that rose through her throat along with the bile.

She turned and puked out her guts. There was a thud, and when Reisa looked up, she saw that Logan had the girl pinned against the wall. Reisa made her way over. The stranger was wearing dark sunglasses, and her hair swirled around her hips. She had a bright grin on her face. Reisa shouted at her. "You killed that man!"

The girl shrugged. "Well, to be fair, he was trying to kill you first."

Reisa clenched her hands into fists. "That doesn't make it right to kill him!"

Logan gave Reisa a look saying that she needed to calm down. Otherwise she would alert the entire neighborhood to the situation, and they would all be detained and questioned. Reisa knelt next to the corpse, and closed her eyes. The sight was making her sick, and since she had already expelled her stomach's contents, she just heaved and choked. She concentrated, and brought the man back to life.

He started to get up, so Logan whirled around and kicked the guy's head into the ground. The girl stood there, with her arms across her chest, and her mouth wide open. "Did you just-"

Reisa was furious. She had been raised her entire life knowing that killing was wrong no matter what, and that it took a very sick level of constitution to kill someone. "I should turn you in to the police!"

The girl laughed. "For what, murder?" Reisa nodded. The girl continued. "You want me to be arrested for the murder of the man who is lying in front of you, very much alive? I don't see that being passed off as a believable story. So are you a mutant or something?"

Reisa was thrown by the sudden change in topic. "What of it?"

The girl shrugged. "Nothing, I just think that's really neat. There's not many mutants who are willing to let people find out, and it's cool of you to be so brave." She surged forward. "Hey, I'm Mara, but my friends call me Grace. You can call me Grace too, if you want. What's your name?" Reisa remained stubbornly silent. Grace shrugged. "Well, I'll just call you Faith. It seems like a fitting name for someone who can raise the dead." She reached out "Here's my card." She shoved a business card into one of Reisa's hands. "This should shed some light on the situation."

Logan reached out to grab her, but the girl scampered away, and when the mutants ran out onto the street, there was no sign of the girl. Logan scowled, but let his claws retract. "We should get back and report everything."

Reisa felt like she couldn't even speak. That girl hadn't looked any older than her, yet she had been able to straight up murder a man, without even flinching. And then afterwards, she hadn't even looked remotely remorseful. As they walked back to the car, Reisa stared at the card. It was blank, as far as she could tell.

The drive back was mostly silent. And when Reisa demanded that Logan pull over so she could get out and puke, he didn't say anything. Reisa had never seen any dead people outside of tv shows, and she had definitely never seen anyone get killed right in front of her. When they got back, Reisa stormed up to her room, leaving Logan to explain everything to Charles.

Reisa threw herself onto her bed, and buried her face into a pillow. If this was how all important missions played out, then she didn't want to be any part of them. That had been awful. When she rolled over, she felt something stabbing into her side, and pulled the card out of her pocket. She held it up, and the ceiling light shone right through it.

With the light going through it, suddenly the words on the glossy card were visible. All it said was, 'For Hire', and there was a phone number underneath that. She sighed, and let the card fall down onto her stomach. She was just going to try and forget about all of this. Pretend that it had all just been a bad dream.

There was a knock on the door. "Reisa? Charles wants to talk to you."

She groaned, but got up and left her room. She brushed past Logan and made her way to the office on the first floor. She went in and plopped down on the chair. Charles smiled kindly. "You don't even have to tell me out loud what happened, if you don't want to."

Reisa nodded her consent for Charles to look through her mind, and see the memories for himself. It would be more accurate that way, without her forgetting something, or messing up one of the details.

Once he was finished, there was a frown on Charles's face. "I wonder who could have sent men after you. And who was that girl?" He tilted his head. "Do you still have that card?"

Reisa pulled it out, and noted that it was blank again. "I think that you can only read it when there's a light shining through it, for some reason."

The professor nodded in dismissal. "Thank you, Reisa, that will be all."


	3. Chapter 3

Reisa was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. After Charles had dismissed her, the girl hadn't been able to think of anything to do with her time. She knew that Charles and Logan, and probably some of the other adults as well, would be discussing the strange new developments. From the whole trip being a set up, to meeting Grace, the day had been a rollercoaster from start to finish. And it wasn't even over yet.

There was a polite knock at the door, and Reisa rolled her eyes. There was only one person in the whole mansion with that distinct knock. She didn't say anything, but the person knew her well enough to know that anything less than 'go away' was an invitation to enter the room.

The door opened a sliver, and a familiar head peered inside the teen's room. She looked over, and saw the soft blond hair and concerned blue eyes staring at her. Reisa turned over so her back was facing him, and the man entered the room. He sat cautiously at the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle Reisa.

He awkwardly patted one of her legs, and cleared his throat. "I've uh, never been really good with the whole… parenting thing." He was trying to guilt her into speaking, but Reisa wasn't going to rise to the bait. The man sighed. "Listen, I know that you're upset. You've had a rough day, and you feel like no one is treating you like an adult. I understand that, I really do." He stood up, to pace back and forth in the small room. "And Charles told me what happened. I can only imagine what you're going through…"

Reisa sat up, her eyes red. She looked angry. "You're right, you have no idea. I watched a man get murdered, right in front of me! I saw the blood… and he was choking… and she didn't even look sorry…"

The man stood still, and shifted on his feet. He spoke in a soft voice. "You know, I can still remember the day that you first came here. Charles, Michael, and Sean went out, saying they would be gone for a while, and that I was in charge in their absence. To my complete surprise, they showed up nearly ten hours later, a little girl in their wake. Sean held her out to me, and I couldn't help thinking to myself that you looked so familiar. He handed you off to me, and said, "Franklin, she's your daughter." I couldn't believe it, but Charles confirmed, and he said that you took after my side of the family. You looked up at me with such suspicion in your eyes, and you asked me why we'd never met before."

Reisa shrugged. "I don't understand-"

He laughed. "You knew as soon as you saw my face that I had no good answer. So you looked up at me, and called me by my full name, asking if I was going to help carry your suitcase to your new room. I don't know if I've ever told you this before, but if you had waited just a second, I would have had the chance to tell you to call me 'dad'." Franklin chuckled. "But I suppose that's all in the past."

Reisa frowned. She hadn't known about that part. She had only known that no matter what happened, she hadn't wanted to associate the stranger in front of her with her father. Like it would ruin the image built up in her mind from all of the times her mom talked about the man. "Franklin… why are you telling me this?"

The man shook his head and laughed, breaking the heavy air that came with his story. "I don't really know. Sometimes I just wonder why this is the way it has to be." He smiled lightly. "Maybe I just wanted to give you the hint that I'm sick of being called Franklin by you."

Reisa's frown deepened. "You wonder why I don't call you 'dad'? It couldn't possibly be because of the fact that I grew up with just Mom, you were nowhere in sight. And then, even when I first moved here, and there was the chance for us to get close, you left. A lot. The first time it was just for a few days. The time after that was a few months. And right now, this is the first time I've seen you at all in four years. But, yeah, you're right. Let's all just ponder why we aren't in a typical father daughter relationship."

Franklin's amused look fell off in an instant. " I, uh, just thought that you should know that Charles wants to see you again."

Reisa raised her eyebrows. "Again so soon?"

She brushed past the man, and went back downstairs to head to Charles's office. Franklin sighed, and left the room as well, closing the door behind him. Franklin knew that he was a bad parent, but he hadn't realized that four whole years had passed. Though now that he was thinking about it, Reisa did look older than when he last saw her.

He sometimes wished, especially at times like this, that was never a mutant. Then he could have lived happily with Rebecca, and raised Reisa together, who would have been able to have a normal life. Instead, his damned mutation had him running off and leaving his pregnant wife, and then abandoning his daughter in the same manner, for similar reasons, when she needed him most. He probably shouldn't have brought up that old story. No one was interested in the past, because that was the one thing that could never be changed.

Grace was standing in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection. Sometimes, it felt like a relief to be able to see herself. It was the only proof she had that she even existed, since there certainly wasn't anyone in her life to confirm it. For all she knew, she had faded away a long time ago, and had been buried under the ground with her parents.

She paused for a moment to think as she stared at herself. Admittedly, that thought, which would be considered traumatic by most therapists, had actually happened. She could still remember it all like it had been just yesterday, rather than a hefty seven years at this point. But Grace had never been quite sane, even before her parents died. But that even certainly hadn't helped to make her any less crazy.

_Nine-year-old Mara got into the backseat of the car, her parents sitting up front. They were asking her how her day was, even though that wasn't necessary. The girl would tell her entire life story to anyone she met, whether they asked or not, and it wasn't hard to get her so bouncy. She was one of the most cheerful kids around, and no one could remember a single instance where she had been anything less than downright chipper._

_She was chattering away, her parents laughing as they listened to her go on about her day. She had been at a slumber party, and Mara was recounting the tale in as exciting a way as possible. They were all smiling, since it was almost impossible not to find the little girl's joy to be contagious, when suddenly, there was a glaring bright light in their faces, and the sound of screams. _

_Mara remembered that horrifying sound, of metal being crumpled as easily as if it were paper, and the car was crushed. Once all of the noise was gone, there was the sound of labored breathing, coming from the front seat. Mara's mother was straining in her seat to turn around and look at her family. She could see that her husband wasn't breathing, and she involuntarily puked at the sight._

_Then she turned and saw Mara, who wasn't even a decade old yet, suspended in the air by her seat belt. She was looking around with crazed eyes, and Karen wanted nothing more than to comfort the girl, but when she tried to speak, there was only a gurgling sound as she choked on her own blood._

_Mara, though only a child, knew the exact moment that her mother stopped breathing. She fumbled with her seat belt, but it was a struggle to even make her arms move, and she felt like someone tore out her heart, it hurt so much. She tried to reach forward, but it put an extremely uncomfortable pressure on her chest. Her ribs were broken, and as she leaned forward, the sharp pieces pierced her lungs, and then her heart, and her vision began to swim, and she saw white dots. Just a few minutes later, everything went black, and Mara could no longer feel anything._

_Mara's eyes snapped open, and she thought for a moment that they were still closed, because it was pitch black wherever she was. She reached forward, and her hands almost immediately brushed against a soft silky surface, with something harder just above it. She pushed against the surface over her head, and when it moved, sunlight poured in, and she was able to sit up. _

_She was blinded for a moment, but then was able to regain her senses and look around. She was lying in a funny little bed, surrounded by dirt walls. She was wearing a very formal dress, the kind that she would only wear on a special occasion. She had on the bracelet she had been found with as a child, and the pearl necklace that Karen had promised to give her on her thirteenth birthday. Mara smiled with amusement, thinking that this was all just some kind of new game._

_The girl managed to climb her way out of the pit, though she did knock a lot of dirt back down, dirtying the pristine white lining of the strange box slash bed. Once she was on solid ground, she looked around, and realized that she was in a cemetery. That meant… _

_When she looked back at the bizarre bed, she now saw it for what it was: a coffin. There was still a tarp around the hole, and a large pile of dirt, just waiting to be filled in. Right next to her hole were two brand new headstones, side by side, with the names of her parents engraved on them, and fresh dirt that had just been placed recently._

_Mara suddenly realized what had happened, or at least part of it. Her parents were dead. And that idiot driver who crashed into them was the one who killed the loving young couple. Mara walked back to her house, for the first time all by herself. She broke a window in the back door to let herself in, and went upstairs to her bedroom._

_The first thing that she did was take a shower to wash off all the dirt, and change into jeans and a tee shirt, to avoid standing out too much. She left on the bracelet, and stuffed the pearl necklace into one of her pockets, to be dealt with properly later. She went into her father's study, and looked around. She had an instinctual feeling that she wouldn't see the place ever again._

_She opened the top drawer to the dead man's desk, and found what she was looking for right away. It was the silver letter opener, with her dad's initials engraved on it, along with a small heart. It had been an anniversary gift from Karen to James, long before Mara had been adopted by them. There was also a pair of sunglasses sitting in the drawer, and Mara recognized them as belonging to her mother. She put them on, even though they were too big, and she pocketed the blade, then went into her parents bedroom._

_Mara knew where they kept their emergency funds, stashed between their mattresses. She found it easily, and shoved all of the money into her other pocket. She went outside to the porch, where there were old newspapers still lying, like someone hadn't gotten the memo that the owners of the house were dead._

_There were twenty of them total. She looked for the oldest dated one, from twenty days ago, and flipped through. There was an article about a man who was arrested for hitting a car and killing the entire family of three that was inside. Mara made her way to the police station, and slipped in undetected._

_A few hours later, the guards found one of the inmates dead in his cell, a homemade shiv in his hand. Apparently he had killed himself, possibly out of guilt for what he did. Mara hightailed it out of town, knowing how badly people would react if they saw her walking around._

_She stared at the blade with an eery little grin. The letter opener had been perfectly effective, though it was dull for a knife, causing more pain than necessary. But Mara didn't mind. She was proud of herself for avenging her fallen parents, and she was now on her own, free to do anything in the world that she wanted to._

Grace shook her head to clear her mind. As much as it was fun to reminisce, she did have a job to do. She grinned at her reflection, and if she was anybody else, she probably would have been frightened to death. There was something in her eyes, something that was normally hidden by those sunglasses. But now those blood red eyes were staring at their reflection in the mirror, wondering about the dead look. It was suitable, for someone who had once died, and even for someone of her profession, but that didn't mean she wanted to mope around her clients. It would be bad for business.

She was dragged out of her thoughts by a ringing, and she answered her phone, even though she didn't recognize the number. "Camille's Floral Shop, how may I assist you today?"

There was an unsure pause, and Grace grinned to herself. There was a nervous gulp, and a long pause until the person on the other end spoke. "Sorry, I uh, I guess I dialed the wrong number…"

Grace chuckled as she recognized the voice almost immediately. They had only met once so far, but there was something so familiar about the other girl, that Grace just couldn't help feeling like connecting was something she had to do. "No, Faith, you've called the right place. Though I still don't know your real name…"

There was a slight tickling in the back of her mind, and Grace frowned. She knew exactly what that feeling was, and it annoyed her to no end that anyone would ever attempt reading her mind. She spoke angrily into the phone. "Now you listen here. I'm willing to help you out if you're willing to ask for my help, but I never offered to have anybody pry into my brain, and if you think that I'm just going to let that slide, then you have another thing coming."

There was a sharp intake of breath, and then a click as the call ended. The buzzing ended instantaneously. Grace wondered if she had been able to stop the telepath in time before he or she figured out one of his very important secrets. Grace balled her hands into fists, and outside she could hear the sounds of cars crashing and people screaming.

They were comforting sounds, and Grace took several deep breaths, until she could smile again. She hoped that this time there would still at least be a couple people left standing after that temper tantrum.


	4. Chapter 4

Reisa looked up in shock. Charles had reached forward to take the phone away and end the phone call. The girl sighed. "This person… Grace… how did she know that you were trying to read her mind? Is she a telepath too?"

Charles shook his head. "No, I don't think that she's a telepath. It felt more like… there was just nobody there. I know what it feels like to be blocked by a telepath, and that was not it."

Reisa nodded. "Alright, then. What are we going to do about her?"

The telepath raised one eyebrow. "I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say."

The teen closed her eyes for a moment, before looking at Charles. "She's clearly dangerous. Are you just going to let her run around and cause trouble?"

Charles frowned. "From your report, I can understand why you would believe her to be dangerous. However, I also believe that she has the potential to be an ally. She only killed that man while helping defend you, if I understand correctly. And judging from what was said on the phone, she is willing to help us again. Or at least, help you again."

Reisa stood up. "I need to go get some notes from Fizz if I don't want to fall even further behind in my classes."

Charles nodded in dismissal, and the girl hurried away. She went back to her room to grab a notebook and pen, then went down to the common room to see if Fizz was there.

Charles looked down at the business card, which was apparently blank. There was something strange about it, beyond the obvious lack of writing on it. It was a slightly thicker material than most business cards, but other than that, there wasn't really anything particularly wrong with it.

Grace watched over her friend's shoulder as his fingers flew over the keyboard. After a few minutes, a map appeared on the computer screen, with a pulsing white dot in one corner. Grace grinned gleefully. "This is even better than anything I could have ever hoped for."

The man rolled his eyes. "I honestly don't understand why you're so happy about this. Are you planning on killing an entire group of innocent mutants?" He plugged a small flash drive into the computer, and hit a few more buttons so the information would be transferred.

Grace looked offended. "Weasel! I thought that you knew me better than that! Of course I'm not going to just kill them all. But think about it! Those people in that ally back there are the first people I've ever seen who are anything like me at all. What if they have someone who can fix me?"

Weasel sighed. "Grace… you're not broken. You're the most powerful and invincible person that I know. What can these people possibly do for you that you couldn't have thought of on your own?"

Grace let her grin droop a little. Her voice came out sounding almost vulnerable, something that took Weasel by surprise. "I guess I don't need to be fixed… but I do need some friends. People who can understand me. No offense, but as a normal person, you'll never be able to understand, not really. Why do you care so much, anyways? You know that they can't just kill me off."

The man laughed. "I guess… the truth is that I don't have many friends. There's you and a few others, and that's it. And I know for a fact that you don't have any other friends. If you go there, and decide you like it, then I've just lost you as a friend."

Grace's eyes widened. "I didn't know that you thought of us as friends. I thought you only helped me out all these years because you felt bad for shooting me in the face."

Weasel held out one hand. "Hey, to be fair, you were hired to kill me."

Grace shrugged. "Yup. Until you became so much more interesting than the money." She sighed. "Don't worry so much. I'll keep in touch. And for all you know, assassins won't be highly accepted at-"

Weasel stood up suddenly and knocked his chair back. He yanked out the drive and shoved it into Grace's hands. "Go, go!"

Grace glanced at the screen that monitored the front entrance of her warehouse, and saw three muscular men armed to the teeth, just standing there. They were going to break in, and their first goal would be to take down Grace. She shoved the flash drive deep into her pocket, so that her hands would be free.

Before she could respond, the door splintered open, and there was the loud sound of gunfire. Weasel jumped in front of Grace, and was instantly pumped full of bullets. Grace bared her teeth. It took a lot to sour her normally cheery mood, but these guys had managed to do it. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't an accomplishment to be proud of.

Grace shoved Weasel's body back behind his desk, so it couldn't get even more damaged than it already was. She pulled out her favorite knife, the same one that she had been using for the past six years, and easily danced around the angry men and their guns. Brutes were so easy to take out, so it would be a waste for Grace to end them quickly.

She dashed between them, slashing them at points that they would feel the maximum amount of pain without the risk of bleeding out. The girl knew where all of those points were from years and years of practice.

Grace finally grew bored of fighting off these men, and even if they had killed her only friend, or maybe because they had, she wasn't in the mood to draw out their deaths any longer.

The knife plunged deep into the chest of one man. He was then shoved forward, knocking the second man off balance. Grace tugged her knife out of the chest, and expertly pitched it forward so that the second man's head was impaled on it as he fell back. Grace pulled out a second knife, continuing to avoid the rapid firing of the last man, and she ran forward and stabbed it into his neck.

When she pulled it out, he was still breathing, sort of, and that pissed Grace off. She kicked him down and stabbed him a few more times, just for good measure. Then she wiped the blood off on the dead guy's shirt. She turned around and lifted the heavy man to yank out her favorite blade. She also wiped this one off on the clothes of the dead, though she planned on cleaning it more thoroughly later.

Grace walked around the desk, and knelt in front of her friend. His chest wasn't moving up and down, and she counted at least five bullet holes in his tee shirt, possibly more hidden behind the blood.

The girl stood up, and stretched, a smile on her face. She pulled out her phone, popped off the back, and replaced the sim card with the small chip that was inside the slightly bigger flash drive she had been handed. Once the phone was fully assembled again, she turned it on, and found Weasel's map waiting for her.

It wasn't going to be a picnic, lugging Weasel's body out of the city, and all the way to Westchester. But it would be worth it, because according to the tracker in that business card, that's where Faith was. And if Faith had brought that nasty murderer back to life, then she would definitely be willing to resurrect this innocent man.

Without anyone staying behind at the warehouse to watch over everything, random thieves could break in and steal their stuff. New York had never claimed that it was an honest city.

Reisa glared at her reflection. Or more accurately, she glared at the blank mirror. It was so frustrating to never be able to even see what she looked like. Once, when she had been much younger, Sean had suggested that they take a picture of her. She hadn't shown up in it, though.

It was pointless to keep glaring though, since she would never see it. Fizz had said that her hair looked funny, but she really had no way of knowing whether it really did look funny or not. She sighed, and plopped down on her bed. It had taken forever to get all of the notes that she had missed, and it certainly didn't help that Fizz was a very thorough note taker. Looking through his notes was pretty much like looking through an exact transcript of each lecture.

Reisa shoved her notebook aside, too lost in thought to be able to concentrate on studying, even if she had promised. She decided that a little bit of fresh air would do her some good, and headed outside to the big yard. It was nice at this time of year.

As she stood there, admiring the view of the beautiful sunset, Reisa heard a strange voice. "Come on, just hang on for a little longer. Just a few more minutes, and you'll be all better again. I promise." The voice was coming from around the corner of the house.

Reisa cautiously walked around the side of the mansion, her back pressed up against the wall. She peered around the corner, and her eyes widened. Without stopping to think about it, she screamed.

Grace's head darted up at the shrill sound, and she pressed her finger to her lips. "No, please, be quiet! I just need you to bring my friend back to life…" She trailed off when she realized that the other girl was not paying attention to her words, as rude as that was.

Faith's eyes fell on Weasel, and they seemed to bug out of her head even more. Grace sighed, and pressed her lips together tightly. Within minutes, she was surrounded by strange looking adults.

She held up her hands to show that she had come in peace, with no intention of harming anyone. That guy from the ally had his claws extended, and his words came out as a growl. "What are you doing here?"

Grace turned to Faith, who was standing behind a couple of the adults. Grace sighed. "Listen, I'm not here to hurt anyone, I promise. It's just… I saw you bring that guy back to life, and I was hoping that you would be able to do the same for my friend here. Please."

A man in a wheelchair rolled out of the large building, a small frown on his face. "My name is Charles Xavier. And you are…?"

Grace rolled her eyes. "Desperately hoping that you'll let your pupil revive my friend."

Charles took in the almost comical sight of the dead man hanging over the small girl's shoulder. He turned to Faith and gave her a short nod. She slipped through the ring of grown ups, and walked over to Faith. "Hey, don't attack. I'm just going to help."

Grace nodded, and unceremoniously dumped the body on the ground. It didn't matter, because he would either stay dead or some back to life, and either way, he wouldn't remember that moment of rudeness.

They all watched silently as Faith concentrated, and a moment later, Weasel sat up slowly, coughing a few times. "Well, I have absolutely no idea what just happened." He looked around in confusion. "Where are we?"

Charles looked at Grace closely, trying to figure her out. But it was like her mind wasn't even there, like there was no person standing there. The only reason he hadn't detected the duo breaking onto his property was because he had no way of reading dead minds, or minds that seemingly don't exist.


End file.
